Environmental management accounting for strategic decision‐making: A systematic literature review

Abstract Heightened environmental concerns have prompted businesses to align with regulatory demands, fostering a need for internal accounting tools aiding managerial decision‐making. While environmental management accounting (EMA) has become pivotal in supporting eco‐efficiency decisions within organizations, a gap persists in comprehending its genuine, proactive implementation for sustainable development in the existing literature. This study investigates why and how EMA is used for strategic decision‐making. A systematic literature review of 89 studies was conducted, and factors influencing EMA usage for strategic decision‐making were identified using the drivers–enablers–outcomes–barriers framework. Three reasons for EMA use in strategic decision‐making were identified: legitimacy, organizational efficiency, and strategic sustainable development. This study highlights the evolving use of EMA within organizations, moving from short‐term applications to recognizing its long‐term potential for strategic sustainable development. It explains the changing motives behind EMA adoption, driven by factors that encourage the use of advanced EMA tools for proactive, long‐term decision‐making in sustainable development. The integration of these tools depends on internal organizational factors like management's environmental responsibility, and proactive leadership commitment to sustainability. By exploring theoretical underpinnings and motivations of enhanced EMA usage, this research contributes to pragmatic approaches in sustainability accounting, illustrating how organizations, initially adopting EMA for legitimacy, recognize its benefits in guiding proactive, solution‐oriented managerial decisions toward strategic sustainable development.